Headline Potpourri

It's been a while since I have written here consistently and I make no promise that I will start to again now, but I do like spouting off about things and pretending that people are reading it and I am influencing the masses (even though I can look at the Google analytics and see that usually only 4 people read anything on here...which just tells me that my mom must log in from different computers).

So here's my scattershot look at the sports world these days.

Omar Minaya needs to be fired. I am pretty sure that his main qualification when he was hired was being a life-long Mets fan. Well, I want the job then. I can identify the highest profile star free agent and sign a huge check to bring him in. I can misidentify the abundant mid-level talent that actually wins ball games. I can sign over-the-hill stars in a transparent attempt to sell tickets. I can trade away young talent without having any real sense of if they'll be any good or not. I can sign and resign bad pitchers to hugely overvalued contracts, while passing on others that would have been cheaper and more effective.

According to a blog on the MLB.com network, Joel Pineiro was all set to sign with the Mets this offseason.  He is close friends with Alex Cora, who told him that Minaya had said they were gonna get it done.  Pieneiro was excited.  Then Minaya settled on the same crap that had lost nearly 100 games last year and Pineiro eventually signed with the Angels for just $1 million more than the Mets initial low-ball offer.  If you're wondering, last year Pineiro had his best year as a full-time starter with a 3.49 ERA and 15 wins.  His ERA is 2.77 this year, including dominating the Yankees in New York yesterday.  Good call Omar. 

Jerry Manuel also needs to be fired. He over-manages the bullpen to the point where most games are unwatchable because of the constant pitching changes. And this makes all of the pitchers tired because they all warm-up every day and most pitch every day, so mid-way through the season, all of them are fatigued. He over-manages the lineup to the point where no one knows exactly what his role is. If Jose Reyes is your 3-man, put him there and shut up about it. If not, don't...and shut up about it. If Angel Pagan is your centerfielder until Carlos Beltran comes back, then put him out there and let him settle in. If you are trying to find extra time for Gary Matthews, Jr. so you can trade him when Beltran returns, then do it and leave him in there so he can settle in. Set a lineup and stick with it. One bad offensive day doesn't mean you blow the whole thing up and start over. But two years of the same crap not working over and over, does mean to start over.

And Gary Matthews, Jr., you are 36 years old. Drop the "Jr."

Oliver Perez needs to be released. Damn the contract. There must be any number of pitchers available (Pedro Martinez, Jerrod Washburn, any minor leaguer) who can come in and throw a great 4 innings here and there, and then give up 5 runs and 6 walks in an inning here and there. Screw this guy. He stunk when we signed him. He stunk under the last pitching coach. He stinks under this pitching coach. Stop stroking his ego and trying to ease his psyche so he can find the freaking strike zone. Let him use the money you're paying to go to Fiji and hire a sports psychologist and figure it out on his own. There's no reason he needs to parade out there every five days like an albatross around the necks of your fans and the rest of the team just so we can figure out if he's still an overvalued lunatic. (Note: This program does not allow for photo captions, but the one above would have been, "Ctrl-Z".)

John Maine...you're next. Quit screwing around.

Sharks fans: your mascot has one syllable. Luckily the convention of sports fans has standard crowd-roaring cheers for just such a situation. And they have other cheers for two syllable mascots. Stop using the wrong one. "Let's go Sharks! - Let's go Sharks!" Memorize and repeat. You've watched too many Yankees and Red Sox games on ESPN (though that is all they show, so I can't blame you) and are trying to make "Sharks" a two-syllable word. Stop it. "Let's go Sha-arks." I can't believe I have to listen to that for at least 1 more home game, possibly as many as 15 more times this postseason.

Sharks players: What the hell? How many former Stanley Cup winners and Olympic Gold medal winners do you need to join you before you stop being choke artists?

Ben Roethlisberger is an idiot. Can we move on though? He didn't get drunk and crash his $200,000 car into a pedestrian. He didn't run a dog-fighting ring. He didn't shoot himself in the leg in a nightclub. He just keeps sleeping with the wrong women, once he crashed a motorcycle, and he has a really bad barber. If he's ever convicted of rape, then I will change my story here. But for now, he is a really rich, kinda fat, kinda ugly 28-year-old dude who likes going to bars and hooking up with women.

Elin Woods is allegedly pissed at Tiger for playing in the Masters just 5 months after their marriage blew up. Not that Tiger has to work, given his financial success, but golf is his job. I think 5 months off is a reasonable amount of time off from work before restarting some normalcy to life without being callous. In the real world, people go back to work the next day after catastrophe hits. That said, she should be pissed (and allegedly is) about the Nike commercial where they spliced together things his dad said into some kind of eerie, post-mortem, lecture to Tiger about being a scumbag. It is disgusting, shameful and sad. From Nike's point of view, what was the purpose of this: "We will get unrelated statement made by his dead father, who he was really close to, and chop it up so it sounds like he is scolding Tiger. And this will make people want to buy shoes." Are they really exploiting his infidelity as an avenue for sales? It's one thing to keep him as a spokesman since he is still a great athlete, even if he's a scummy person. But it is another to advertise his scumminess.  And he signed off on it.  Oh, and he had sex with all those skanks.  Screw the pre-nup saying you have to be married for a certain amount of time, show him that at least you can't be bought. 

Can we stop looking at Tiger's father as some kind of model for all parents? He raised a son who is arrogant, petulant, rude, condescending, and adulterous. During the US Open this year, which is always on Fathers' Day weekend, I hope I don't have to hear about what a wonderful man it was that raised and was so close to this huge asshole. He may have been a good guy, and maybe all these problems with Tiger are not his fault. But as a former teacher, I often saw that if a kid was a good kid, you saw why when you met his parents. And visa versa.

It took Milton Bradley 5 games to have a blow-up on his new team. And this is after being fired from his last team for having blow-ups all the time. Which is after a litany of blow-ups throughout his career despite his consistent insistence that it's never his fault. Newsflash Milton: opposing sports fan heckle. Especially those in cities where you formerly played. Especially when you had a huge contract and stunk and got run out of town because of behavior problems. So at this point, I am starting to think it isn't Bradley's fault. It's the teams that keep hiring him.

Phil Jackson just criticized NBA referees for the preferential treatment that Kevin Durant gets. I'm sure this blatantly transparent and pathetic whining has nothing to do with the fact that Jackson's Lakers are playing Durant's Supersonics in the playoffs this week. I am sure Jackson would have spoken out about this had the Lakers not been playing the Sonics. And I am sure that Jackson is aware of the fact that his 10 championships are partially a result of the fact that Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant have always gotten better preferential treatment from refs than Tiger Woods would get at the Bunny Ranch. NBA officiating is a joke, Phil. If you score 20+ points per game, or get 15+ rebounds, you get any call you want. It doesn't matter who you are, just that you're somebody.

I know they're not the Supersonics anymore, I just still can't believe it. And Jim Britt deserved better, so that's for him. (By the way Jim, sorry about Milton Bradley being insane. Who saw that coming?)

I went to the Giants-Pirates game yesterday and saw what I think was my first inside-the-park homerun. I have a vague sense that I saw someone hit one at a Padre game at the Murph when I was in college, but I can't quite place it. Eric Young?  I think it was a Rockie.  In any case, this one yesterday was awesome and Aubrey Huff probably hopes he never gets a funny bounce like that again. He looked like the only way he was gonna make it home was on a gurney.

In related news, I rode my bike to the game. This is significant for a number of reasons. One: it's awesome. Two: I was not worried about my bike being stolen or myself being stabbed at any point before during or after the game. Maybe moving away from LA wasn't so bad. I've been to two games at AT&T Park now this season. 0 waves. 0 beach balls. 0 fights. 0 drinks/food thrown at opposing fans. 1 Braves fan in a Chipper Jones jersey in the front row who spent most of the game facing the crowd with a smug look on his face and his arms out in a "That's right, we're winning, what are you gonna do about it?" posture who deserved drinks and food thrown at him, then a fight, but got none. 0 violent incidents outside the stadium.

I have eye glasses but I don't wear them very much, though I should. Last night I was sitting pretty far from the TV watching the Sharks-Avs game and had a hard time spotting the puck. There is obviously an easy way to remedy this situation for the Kings-Canucks game tonight. I need a bigger TV.

Fantasy baseball is frustrating for a lot of reasons but here are two examples from this past week: The Braves got shelled but I couldn't fully enjoy it because I had their pitcher, Jair Jurrjens, on my team. Then the next day, the Mets got shelled even worse by the Rockies. But at least I have one of the Rockies' big hitters on my team so I benefitted there, right? Nope. He had the night off.

Tracy McGrady made the announcement today that he intends to retire if he cannot regain his form. Thanks for the update, Tracy. I think I speak for most fans, and probably most GMs when I say, Tracy McGrady is still in the league?

July 4 Weekend Sports Highlights

• Mets vs. Phillies in Philadelphia (Fox at 1:05 - Saturday)
• All Williams-Final at Wimbledon - Saturday (again they're playing in the women's draw, which seems unfair)
• Williams Brothers in the Wimbledon Women's Doubles Final as well
• Andy Roddick vs. Roger Federer in Wimbledon Men's Final - Sunday
• Tour de France Stage 1 Time Trial in Monaco - Sunday
• NBA personnel carousel continues to spin (Allen Iverson is so desperate he actually said he wants to go to Memphis, poor bastard)
• Petco Park was invaded Thursday by a swarm of bees (apparently all attracted to a ball girl's jacket, about which the jacket company released this statement, "We can only guess that bees are attracted, as major league players are, to the warmth and comfort of our performance apparel."). This weekend it will be invaded by a swarm of thugs.
• Manny Ramirez returns to the Dodgers against the Padres, as exuberant Dodger fans completely forget that they ripped Giants fans for supporting Barry Bonds when he did the same thing Manny did, only it wasn't banned then...why is it that everyone else connected to steroids becomes a pariah for fans and media, but Manny is so beloved and forgiven? What did he do differently in the wake of his story breaking - or is it just that L.A. fans will get behind a winner no matter how bad a guy he is (not that I am talking about Kobe Bryant or anything)?
• O's at Angels (12:35 - Sunday, but this is only on the list because I am going)
• Russ Branyan's homer at Yankee Launching Pad Thursday should drop out of orbit and land again sometime Saturday
• Drunken pickup ultimate at the Rose Bowl all day Saturday

Mets Sleepwalking Their Way To An Early Fall

It is only July 1 and there are 84 games left, so it is a little early for Mets fans to be crying that the sky is falling and a change needs to be made, but the sky is falling and a change needs to be made.

I understand that the roster is badly depleted by injury and once those players come back, there is a good possibility that the Mets will again become a playoff contender. But there is also the possibility that Delgado, Beltran, Reyes, Maine, Perez, Pagan, and the rest won't ever really be healthy this year. And the possibility that by the time they do come back, they'll be too far back to help.

Right now the Mets are in third place in the East, three games behind Philadelphia. They're five behind San Francisco for the Wild Card. Both of those spots are reachable and all of the teams they're chasing are extremely flawed. But the Mets also went 9-18 in June and show no signs of holding onto their spot, let along of gaining ground on anyone.

Was Mark DeRosa the solution? Probably not. The Indians reportedly wanted Bobby Parnell in return, and no matter how bad the offense gets, the Mets probably can't trade a young potential pitching star for an aging journeyman utilityman (two euphemisms for "not relly good enough to lock down a position anywhere"). DeRosa is versatile and has some power, both of which the Mets need. But he isn't good enough to supplant any of the injured players once they return. If a trade happens, it needs to be for a full-fledged star who can make the offense go, and who will stay in the lineup when the Mets are healthy. An outfielder is most likely (goodbye Pagan and Church).

Right now there are too many teams in the hunt (that is, too close to be willing to trade away good talent) for the Mets to make the kind of move they need to, so perhaps Omar Minaya can be taken off the hook. Dumping a young pitcher for another .270 guy who will hit 15-20 homers is not a move they can make. They need a stud and considering how terribly the rest of the East is playing, the Mets can wait. But that window is closing fast. And Minaya is to blame for signing Oliver Perez at a premium instead of Derek Lowe.

And as unfair as it may seem to start pointing fingers at the manager with this many starters on the disabled list, I am continually baffled by some of the things Jerry Manuel does. It seems that every game I see on TV, I am confused by some critical move he makes, so I have to assume it happens in the ones I don't see as well.

On Sunday the Mets trailed the Yankees by 1. Frankie Rodriguez had two runners on base with two outs in the top of the 9th. Derek Jeter was batting with Mariano Rivera on deck. What did Manuel do? He had Frankie pitch to Jeter. Once the count got to two balls, they then intentionally walked him. But they gave Derek Freaking Jeter three pitches to drive into a gap somewhere rather than just putting him on and going after a guy with two career at bats.

Then they were on TV again on Monday against the Brewers. With runners on 1st and 2nd and one out in the top of the 2nd inning, the Mets had Brian Schneider hitting. I'm not sure what you know about Brian Schneider, but let's just say he must be a really, really good defensive catcher if he's still in the league. Luis Castillo was on deck and Castillo has been hitting well of late. So obviously, the play is to have Schneider bunt the runners both into scoring position and have Castillo take a shot at driving them in with two outs because you can assume that the Brewers won't walk Castillo to load the bases for the pitcher in only the 2nd inning. And even if they did, at least you force their hand...make them make the tough decisions and put their pitcher on the spot. If nothing else, you make the pitcher throw 5-10 more pitches. Nope. Nothing doing; Schneider stuck out, Castillo flew out. Braden Looper cruised through 5 more easy innings, Brewers roll.

Many times Manuel doesn't seem to make proper situational pitching substitutions. They've become the NL leader in stolen bases, but still don't seem to have any kind of identity on offense. They don't seem to hit-and-run when it's called for. They seem to miss many bunting opportunities. They don't exactly play small-ball, but they have no power game either. And they've made a number of baserunning blunder. He doesn't have any semblance of a consistent batting order to allow his players to feel comfortable in a role. The announcers hammer the players every single time they're on ESPN about not having leaders, but I don't think it is the players that are problem. Wright leads the league in hitting, catches everything hit at him, is the first off the bench for high fives and does everything that is asked of him. Santana clearly is the anchor for the pitchers. Sheffield is a model citizen and is having a great year. They have leaders in place who are leading. But there seems to be no direction from the club.

Manuel seems like a good guy. He has a sense of humor. He is intelligent. He is good with the media and deflects attention well. But he doesn't seem like the kind of manager who will light a fire under these guys and after 5 years of being calm and composed and mechanical and average (under Manual and Willie Randolph), maybe they need someone to come in and scream at them every now and then. Like Bobby Valentine.

Dodger Stadium Vs. Citi Field

Ending on Tuesday, I watched the Mets play 5 games live over a span of 8 days, and being that I live in Los Angeles, that is clearly the most games I have ever seen in such a short span. The first three games were last week at Dodger Stadium, and the last two were this week at Citi Field. Much is made about the differences between one set of fans and another, one city and another in sports, and going to all these games provided me with an interesting perspective.

Essentially what I learned is that many Dodger fans are the uneducated (in sports terms, not necessarily in scholastic terms), obnoxious thugs that I had thought they were, but also that the "I have the right to ruin anyone's night"-mindset that many of those Dodger fans carry with them does seem to be native to Chavez Ravine.

A comparison between the two ballpark experiences:

Dodger fans were able to start "the wave" with ease at all three games, usually making upwards of 10 trips around the stadium, only ending when an inning ended. Mets fans got a "wave" going one night, it made about one-and-a-half trips and fizzled out. My section tried for three innings to start a wave in the second game and it never got more than two or three sections away. Perhaps Mets fans are there to watch a ballgame?

At least 30 beach balls were passed through the stands at Dodger Stadium during the course of each game. There was not a single one at Citi Field in two games.

Generally fans around me seemed more knowledgeable about the intricacies of the game at Citi Field than at Dodger Stadium (less booing when a pitcher holds a runner on, more overheard talk about pinch-hitting and relief pitching strategy, instant recognition of plays (double play balls hit, whether a ball will be caught, etc.).

Attendance at Dodger Stadium: 37,136, 37,857, 50,761 (bobblehead night).
Attendance at Citi Field: 41,103, 39,376 (50 degrees and raining).
Remember that these figures are the tickets sold, not the fans attending. I would guess that that actual crowds at Dodger Stadium in each game were far lower, while those at Citi Field were about accurate. I even saw two men walking out of Dodger Stadium's parking lot 30 minutes before a game after having picked up their bobbleheads and leaving!

Dodger crowds arrived late and left early, starting in the seventh inning (despite that all three games were decided by a total of five runs). The photo above is of Citi Field approximately two hours before game-time on Monday. Mets crowds arrived very early, and generally did not leave early (despite that the two games were decided by a total of eight runs).

Concessions and restrooms at Dodger Stadium do not compare to those at Citi Field, but this is an unfair comparison given that the stadiums are over 50 years apart in age. What is interesting is that the $6.50 Nathan's foot long hot dog is far better and far bigger than the similarly priced super Dodgerdog. This may seem like a trivial point, but it is certainly not: one of the nights at Dodger Stadium, I sat in a suite and even in this high-priced section, the dog I got came out of a pool of hot water, not off of a grill. Sitting in the right field-upper deck at Citi Field, my hot dog was grilled. All of the Nathan's dogs are grilled, while Dodgerdogs are steamed at nearly every concession stand. Besides the number of choices being better in New York, the prices were about the same...astronomical.

Dodger fans pour out constant abuse at fans of other teams from the moment they step out of their cars in the parking lot to the moment they get back into the car after the game. While the rivalry is better between the Mets and Dodgers, and there were more Mets fans as targets in L.A., I did not see or hear a single National fan get heckled or abused during either game. And there were Nationals fans in crowd with jerseys, hats, etc. Not once. I sat in $100+ seats for all three Dodger games - constant abuse towards Mets fans. I sat in good seats one night and upper deck-out field seats the next - no abuse towards Nats fans.

The view of the mountains at Dodger Stadium is no comparison with the view of the salvage yard beyond Citi Field. But the sight lines inside the newer stadium are fantastic, the seats are wider, and actually all face the infield. Whereas if you sit down the baselines at Dodger Stadium, particularly in the new seats that were added in the last five years, your seats probably face the outfield and you have to look around the person next to you (not in front of you) to see a pitch.

Generally speaking, I did not feel like I needed to watch my wallet at Citi Field (till I got back on the subway, of course) but at Dodger Stadium, the crowd is definitely more full of a "bad element." I have found that security and ushers at both stadiums are very nice. In L.A. they show the "fan abuse" hot-line number constantly throughout the game. I was not aware of such a number in New York, but I didn't notice anyone needing such a number. Mets security, ushers, and vendors wore red, green, and fluorescent yellow shirts respectively, making them very easy to spot. Dodger workers generally wear Dodger colors.

Citi Field had far more team stores, each with a different theme (the everything store, the women's boutique, the vintage-style store, etc.). But this is also a function of it being a brand new stadium.

Citi Field is far more family friendly (advantage of being new). There is an arcade, batting cages, a miniature scale-version of the field to play on, a kids area DJ, a "spirit team" shooting t-shirts into the crowd, and a mascot. Dodger Stadium doesn't.

The Dodgers' jumbotron and scoreboard pale in comparison to their brand new counterparts in New York, but the other scoreboards and stat-boards around the stadium are comparable. In fact the Dodger Stadium out-of-town scoreboards are easier to read than those at Citi Field.

Citi Field features picnic benches, standing bar tables and plenty of standing room all in view of the field for people eating. It is also much easier to navigate - the concourses are much wider. There are no trough-style toilets in the mens' rooms and there are bathrooms everywhere. It has more interesting playing-field features (varying heights of the wall, seats overhanging the field, corners and funny angles of the of wall).

Dodger Stadium has terrible sound quality. There are no speakers around the stadium, only those gigantic, booming ones in center field. So if you sit near them, you can only hear bass and if you sit far away, the sound echoes and is delayed from the picture on the jumbotron. Citi Field has speakers spread around the stadium so the music, organ, anthem, and P.A. announcer are far easier to hear clearly.

Dodger Stadium's cheapest seats are still better than at most stadiums, but they are further from the field than at Citi Field, which is more upright, smaller, and upper decks overlap lower decks more. Dodger Stadium's capacity is larger by more than 12,000.

Parking at Citi Field is actually more expensive than at Dodger Stadium ($18 and $15). However the reason is that Citi Field does not have space for a full crowd to park there and the Mets encourage fans to take mass transit. In fact, the first section of the Mets website's parking page is all about how easy it is to take the subway from New York City, and take trains from Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, etc. There is a subway stop in the parking lot. The Dodgers have made public transportation to Dodger games nearly impossible and while they created a shuttle to Union Station last year, it apparently was a disaster and seemingly has been discontinued. There is no information on the Dodgers website about it and a google search only yielded broken official team site links and angry fan-blog entries. Citi Field parking lots open four hours before games and I saw nearly no trash in the lots (we spent a lot of time there looking for the Shea Stadium infield plaques). Dodger Stadium lots open two hours before games and are covered with trash and broken bottles.

I accept that I could not be any more biased than I am about this particular issue, but these five games only confirmed for me what a terrible experience it is to go to a ballgame at Dodger Stadium.

In unrelated news, the spellcheck for this site suggested "Cambodian" when it did not recognize "jumbotron." They do both end win an n.

NBA: Where Mid-Afternoon Naps Happen

Last weekend looked like it might wind up being one of the better sports-weekends of the year, but it wound up being about as lacking-in-punch as the Mets' make-shift lineup on Sunday Night Baseball.

Both Game 7's (or Games 7 ?) in the NBA were over by the end of the first quarter, with Orlando and Los Angeles both leading by 10 after 12 minutes. Neither result was much of surprise, although the Magic putting Boston out of their misery was technically an upset. I am up to about 10-15 minutes of total playoff game-time watched this season, but the Lakers-Nuggets series may push me well past the 30 minute mark. It was good that the NBA schedules that extra rest day on Saturday so we could really get all wound up to watch the Rockets and Celtics take their dumps on Sunday though. God forbid they play two games in three days at the end of a series. Imagine if the Nuggets and Magic play in the Finals. I said it before, but honestly, put a suicide watch on David Stern.

The Red Wings crushed the Black Hawks in their Western Conference Final Game 1 on Sunday, with the Khabibulin Wall busting wide open in the third period (Detroit scored twice in 1:29 to ice it, and then added a empty-netter late). So that series is over.

Calvin Borel is single-handedly trying to ruin the sport of horse racing this spring. Two weeks ago, he ostensibly destroyed the chance of a fan-winning Triple Crown chase by winning the Kentucky Derby aboard Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot. Then rather than trying to defend the Triple Crown hopes at the Preakness on Saturday, he instead rode one of his other horses, Rachel Alexandra, and of course he won. So now, there is no hope of a Triple Crown, no chance that anyone will watch the Belmont Stakes on TV, and the dying sport will go another 50 weeks without being relevant again. They're trying to make me care that the Belmont is a showdown between the two winning horses, and that Rachel Alexandra is a great story because she's a she, but I say "baseball, NHL, NBA, golf, tennis" to both stories and I turn the channel.

Roger Federer climbed back on top of the tennis world for the weekend, finally beating Rafael Nadal on clay. Nadal hadn't lost on his favorite surface in 33 matches over the last two years. He had also put together a 5-match win streak against Federer. So perhaps the balance in this epic rivalry is not all completely tipped.

I don't like to blame the manager or coach too often in sports because it is an easy cop-out for fans to do so, especially considering that they make 100 good decisions a game, but we key in on the one bad one. But I am starting to question some of Jerry Manuel's moves with the Mets more and more. Trailing 2-0 on Sunday with one out in the eighth and the bases loaded, Manuel pulled starting left fielder Daniel Murphy in favor of pinch-hitter Angel Pagan, who of course hit into an inning-ending double play. There is no guarantee that Murphy would not have done so, nor that either wouldn't have hit a grand slam, but why pinch-hit for a regular player having a good year with the bat with a guy making only his second at-bat of the season after having elbow surgery? And if you were looking for a righty-lefty matchup, why not hit Jose Reyes, who is hitting .379 lefty pitchers, instead of Pagan?

The Mets did win three out of four on the road this weekend (stealing 137 bases in the wins and then attempting to steal one (1!) in the loss), and that makes me happy. Sadly it probably marked the death of the Giants comeback against the Dodgers however. Just when the Dodgers must have been feeling vulnerable and the Giants must have been feeling confident, the tide changed and the lead out West is back where it was when Manny left. The Mets are in L.A. this week (where they've been horrific since sweeping the Dodgers out of the playoffs three years ago) and could perhaps help the Giants now. I'll be at all three games...getting food thrown at me. But at least I'll get in shape walking all the way to my car (which will be outside the lot because there is no way in hell I am paying $15 extra just to get stabbed).

And finally, if you think baseball or cycling have it bad in terms of doping and steroids, consider this: When anti-doping officers showed up in the locker room just before the Belgian bodybuilding championships, all twenty competitors packed up their things and headed for the doors. And you thought the 90's-00's Yankees had a locker-room full of cheaters!

SoCal Sports Hub: Hardball Weekly (5/18/09)

On Pace For 64 Homers (That'd Be The Record, Right?)

The bad news for the Padres is that they are second-to-last in the National League in runs scored and batting average. The good news is that division rival Arizona is last in both, and Rockies are equally inept. The Padres had lost six straight going into their weekend series with the Reds, and came away with a sweep, thanks in part to some 16th innings heroics on Saturday.

Adrian Gonzalez homered in five straight games last week, and considering that his protection in the lineup is coming from Chase Headley, who is batting .246, you have to wonder how long it will be before the Major League home run lead is taken away from him, and when he will start running away with the walks-lead.

Manny Who?

The Mets come to Los Angeles looking to continue their hot streak, but they may have already saved the Dodgers' season for them. When Manny Ramirez first went out on his drug-suspension, the Dodgers scuffled; the Giants got hot, and it looked like San Francisco might sneak back up in the race. They closed from 6.5 games back to 3 games back in the blink of an eye and you could feel the Dodgers imploding.

Then the Mets went in and won three straight in San Francisco, pushing the Dodgers' lead back to 6 games and probably ending anyone's hopes of running down the Dodgers in the West. It isn't that a 6 game lead is insurmountable in May; it is that the Dodgers were on the ropes, likely feeling that nothing they could do would be enough without Manny (they're actually out-hitting and out-scoring their own numbers when he was playing). Now they've won four straight, are back to .500 since Manny left, and after 1/5 of the suspension, they're exactly where they were when they started...in front by a mile.

Now the question is whether they can slow the Mets down in Chavez Ravine this week.

Lackey Is Back, Sorta

John Lackey made his 2009 debut over the weekend, taking a no-decision, and sending his ERA to infinity after getting tossed two pitches into the game for throwing behind and then into the chest of the leadoff hitter. It was a questionable ejection and might have cost the Angels the game given that they were essentially forced to have someone start a game on the spot. Lackey is scheduled to throw anywhere from 3-100 pitches Monday night, going up against former Angel great, Jarrod Washburn in Seattle.

Lackey's abridged start on Saturday was in Texas, where the Angels suffered a sweep at the hands of the Rangers, who have won seven in-a-row and suddenly have the 2nd best record in the league. The Angels did take two-of-three from Boston earlier in the week, but the Texas sweep leaves them at .500 and in desperate need of pitching help (allowing over 5 runs per game this season).

Around the League

Unlikely leaders continue to shine in the American League, with Toronto and Texas holding firm in the East and West, and Kansas City only a game back in the Central. The Royals are 2-7 in their last 9 however, and it appears the bloom may be off the rose. The Phillies and Mets have both caught fire and are looking like they will be making the NL East a two-horse race. The Mets are 11-3 in their last 14, and the Phillies are 5-2 in their last seven (though four wins came against the Nationals). Hells Bells are ringing in Milwaukee where Trevor Hoffman has converted four saves in the Brewers' 5-game winning streak. The Yankees are also riding a 5-game streak, thanks to three consecutive walk-off wins at Yankee Stadium over the Twins last weekend.

The Lineup - 9 Things To Watch This Week

Dodgers vs. Mets at Dodger Stadium (Monday-Wednesday)
Angels vs. Mariners at Safeco Field (Monday-Thursday)
Zack Greinke (7-1, .60 ERA) vs. Victor Martinez (.401 BA) (Thursday)
Red Sox/Josh Beckett vs. Mets/Johan Santana (Friday)
Phillies' Lineup (most runs in NL) vs. Yankee Stadium (Friday-Sunday)
Dodgers vs. Angels at Dodger Stadium (Friday-Sunday)
Dodgers/Clayton Kershaw vs. Angels/John Lackey (Saturday)
Adrian Gonzalez (most HR hit) vs. Rich Harden (8th most HR allowed) (Saturday)
Streaks: Rangers - 7 wins, Nationals - 4 losses

This post is a copy of a weekly feature I write for SoCal Sports Hub. Check out their site for great info., articles, interviews and comments on all Southern California pro and college sports.

SoCal Sports Hub: Hardball Weekly (5/11/09)

This is the first major league baseball weekly recap article I have written for SoCal Sports Hub, a site that obviously caters to Southern California sports fans (in case you're wondering why anyone would spend time looking information on the Pads). Check out their site and stay tuned for more weekly MLB updates.

Signs Of Things To Come?

The big story in baseball last week was the Manny Ramirez-suspension of course. You’ve already read, heard, and seen all the angles of this one, but what we’re left with are questions about how the Dodgers will fare for the next two months without Manny. On paper, they’re still the most talented team in the division and should be fine, but on paper the Mets have won the last three National League crowns.

Interestingly, the Dodgers’ hits-per-game, runs-per-game, and batting average have improved in Manny’s absence, with three of the four games played against one of the best pitching staffs in baseball (San Francisco). But the Giants are also a pretty bad team over all and the Dodgers went 1-3 without Manny, all at home, and against the Giants and Nationals (fewest wins in baseball).

Can Juan Pierre keep hitting .426? Can Andre Ethier keep his average from tanking more (32 points in four games so far). Can the Dodgers keep hitting? Can the young guys really just forget that their protection is gone from the lineup? Which is the anomaly: the good hitting or the bad record? Stay tuned as the Boys in Blue head to Philadelphia and Florida this week.

Reinforcements Are On The Way

The best that can be said of the Angels thus far this season is that they have survived. They’ve survived personal tragedy, a plague of injuries, and inconsistent play from top to bottom. Perhaps last week the Halos turned the corner, going 6-1 against two AL division leaders and a cellar-dweller, and crawling back above .500.

Torii Hunter put a perfect cap on the successful week, making a spectacular home run-robbing catch to preserve the win and the series sweep over the upstart Royals. The offense still scuffled, scoring just 21 runs all week, but the pitching mostly shined, allowing just 10 runs in the six wins (and 13 in the loss).

Hosting the Red Sox and then heading to Arlington later this week, the Angels will welcome the first of their many injured compatriots back to the lineup. 2008 All Star pitcher Ervin Santana could possibly join the team as they head to Texas for the weekend series against the Rangers. Ace starter John Lackey appears to be close on Santana’s heels with his rehab going well. And Kelvim Escobar, who is ineligible to return from shoulder surgery for another month, is throwing well as well.

The Wheels Are Off

After quickly rolling out to 9-3 start, including series wins in New York and Philadelphia and a sweep of the Giants, the Padres have slammed back to earth, going just 4-16 since. They are getting nice seasons from Scott Hairston (.333, 16 RBI in 25 games) and Adrian Gonzalez (.294, 10 HR, 22 runs, 22 RBI in 32 games), but overall the team is 2nd to last in the NL in batting average and third to last in runs scored.

Coupled with this dismal offensive production, they are third to last in the league in ERA as well, allowing 4.69 runs per game. They’ve also blown 8 saves (out of 16), further crippling their chances. Even Jake Peavy hasn’t been able to keep his head above water, going 2-4 with a 4.27 ERA thus far.

The Padres can start turning things back around this week as they head to Chicago and then host the Reds, but it already looks like they won’t be one of the clubs putting a scare into the Manny-less Dodgers.

Around The League

The Royals’ AL Central lead evaporated in the SoCal heat as the Angels swept them into second place (by percentage points) over the weekend. Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Washington are in quite a battle for the worst record in the league, currently combining for a 13-game losing streak. The Mets have taken a hold of the NL East and this time it may stick. The Phillies seem to be the only other true contender and can’t get out of their own way (3rd to last in the Bigs in ERA), and the Mets have surged to a 7-game win streak thanks to one of the best pitching staffs (yes, you read that right) and one of the most potent lineups in the game. It appears that St. Louis will not be running away and hiding. Like the Marlins, Dodgers, Royals, Padres and Blue Jays, their hot start has ended and the field is catching up. Alex Rodriguez is back, but the Yankees still stink, so there is some justice in the world.

The Lineup - 9 Thing To Watch This Week
Angels - Red Sox at the Big A (Tuesday - Thursday)
Manny-Less Dodgers at Philadelphia and Florida
Santana (Mets) vs. Lowe (Braves) at Citi Field (Monday)
Zack Greinke (6-1, 0.51 ERA) vs. Baltimore (Friday)
Hanley Ramirez (.533, 11 runs, 4 homers, 7 RBI, 3 SB last week) vs. Milwaukee and L.A.
Ryan Zimmerman (.346, 6 HR, 22 RBI) has a 28-game hitting streak.
A.J. Burnett (Yankees) vs. Roy Halladay (Blue Jays) at Rogers Centre (Tuesday)
Florida (Most K’s in NL) vs. Milwaukee (2nd most) at Miller Park (Tuesday-Thursday)
Streaks: The Mets have won 7 and the Pirates have lost 8

How I Would Fix The Mets, Vol. I

Rooting for a baseball team is a strange experience. As I sit here on Monday, I feel as though the whole season is a waste because the team has no fire, no starting pitching, and no hope. And I feel as though this last weekend was a complete and utter failure.

But in reality, they're three games back from the Marlins in first place, a team that could easily finish the season 20 games under .500. The Braves are just not that good. And the Phillies are actually happy with how they're playing (but are still only two-and-a-half games up on the Mets).

And that horrible weekend? They beat up the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday. Then a $36 starter vomitted his career all over the mound on Saturday before the team climbed back into the game and went to extra innings before losing a gut-wrencher. So they split with the Champs on the road with their two worst starting pitchers.

So I suppose you could say that the Mets are kinda sitting pretty. But I wouldn't.

If I was a master of time and space, here is how I would fix the Mets at this point in the season:
-Travel back in time and give Derek Lowe the four-year deal he wanted and let Oliver Perez go. Has there ever been a more obvious personnel move in sports history? You pass on one established veteran ace because he wants a fourth year, even though you are absolutely positive that he will win 15 games with an ERA under 4.00 in each of the next four years at New Shea, in favor of a head-case who doesn't come much cheaper ($3M per year less), and who is as likely to strike out 8 batters as he is to walk 8 batters. He might win 10 games, but could also lose 20. Currently: Perez is 1-2 with a 9.97 ERA, 21 walks and 20 K's, currently headed to the minors, bullpen or "disabled" list. Lowe is 3-1, 3.03, 28 K's and 14 walks.

-Sign Manny Ramirez for whetever he wanted. Don't even negotiate. Just give it to him, win the World Series this year and then he can implode all he wants after that...you already won. Thanks to Deadspin for the image above.

-Without the power to go back in time, send Perez to the DL with with phantom knee injury, then send him to the minors to "rehab" until he figures out what the catcher's mitt looks like. And pray.

-Sign Ben Sheets now before anyone remembers that he is not on a team. They will need another starter down the stretch (everyone does), and while Sheets is still recovering from elbow surgery, he hasn't had an ERA over 3.82 since 2003 (2.70, 3.33, 3.82, 3.82, 3.09), and he averages a 4:1 K:walk ratio over his career. If he is signed before the draft (early June), the Mets have to send a draft pick to the Brewers, but what are the odds that that draft pick will wind up being an ace starter. He is only 30, but considered injury prone, so a one year (or 3/4 year) deal would likely be very cheap.

-Take the leash off of Jose Reyes. He should steal every single time he touches first or second base. He should do as many hand-shakes, high-fives, fist-bumps and hugs as he wants as long as he is inside the dugout. He should bunt on every other at bat and go the other way on the other ones.

-Play small ball. I don't care how much money Carlos Beltran makes, if there is a man on first with less than two outs, he's bunting. If Carlos Delgado makes an out trying to hit through the shift, he should be fined...bunt to third for God's sake! If someone does not slide and are called out, fine him. If someone fails to get a sac-fly in the air with a runner on third and less than two outs, fine him. If someone hits behind a runner or bunts and moves him up, or hits a sac-fly...he is getting paid millions of dollars to do so!

-Get an attitude and a team identity. Pitchers can save pitches by hitting guys instead of intentionally walking them (ok, bad idea perhaps, but logical). Pitchers can throw inside a lot though. Establish that early and make batters respect it. No headhunting, but if someone gets intentionally plunked, one of theirs in getting one in the hip. Take pride in defense. Make hard slides. Relievers should be competing for their jobs every game. Everyone should have to watch tape of Alex Cora play. Be the latest hustling-running-small ball team to go all the way since slugging teams never do.

-Leave Danny Murphy in left field and let him learn to play it and leave Ryan Church in right. As long as Luis Castillo is hitting, he is the second baseman. If he starts to flop again, then perhaps you think about moving Murphy there and Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Reed and Fernando Tatis can plattoon the corner outfield spot. But Murphy is not going to be a third baseman in New York for a long, long time. With his bat, he needs to be in the lineup so he needs to become adept at some other position. Left field is the most logical place. But he had beetter be taking hundreds of fly balls and line drives a day out there.

-Someone slap Carlos Beltran in the face and tell him to wake up (and maybe have him take that thing off of his temple).

-But Brian Schneider on the trade market. He is a great glove and manages pitchers very well, but he simply can't hit, and the Mets have two other catchers than can. He is the starter when he comes back from his injury, but he's on a short leash.

-Tatis needs to play more. He should be the first replacement in the outfield and at first, and probably at second as well. That way Cora is always available off the bench.

-Sean Green is not an elite middle reliever. He does not need to be pitched in key spots to justify the trade...J.J. Putz was the reason for that trade.

-Frankie Rodriguez needs to pitch more. I am all for saving guys' arms, but he has 10 appearances in 22 games. I'm not saying they should pitch him in more non-save situations, I'm saying there need to be more freaking save situations.

New Shea Welcomes Baseball, Mets' Outfielders' Gloves Do Not Welcome Baseballs

Monday was opening day at New Shea as the Mets hosted the Padres. Yes, this was the third time that the new stadium hosted a "first ever" baseball game, but as they said in Oceans 13, those first two were "soft openings." While watching the telecast on ESPN and keeping track of where I need to visit and what pictures I want to take when I go to the ballpark next month, I took notes on some of my thoughts on the game. So consider this a non-live live blog on the game.

There is no way in hell I am going to remember that Jody Gerut was the first player to get a hit and first to homer in a regular season game at New Shea. I guess that makes the trivia question more valuable down the line. Remembering that David Wright had the Mets' first hit will be easy. For the record, Luis Castillo had the Mets' first RBI.

I could have sworn that the Rays lost the World Series, but at their home opener Monday against the Yankees, they raised an AL East Champs banner, an AL Champs banner, and handed out rings. Rings? For losing? What is this, little league and everyone gets a trophy?

Orel Hershiser picked the Rays to beat the Mets to win the World Series this year. I knew I liked Orel. The L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke and Sports Illustrated picked the Mets to win it all. I like them too.

If Mets' G.M. Omar Minaya really only goes after Latin players, how come the Mets start four white dudes? I would venture that that is the most white starting players of any team in baseball. Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. And two of the five starting pitchers are white (John Maine and Mike Pelphrey). And three of their most significant off-season additions (J.J. Putz, Sean Green and Jeremy Reed). Crazy, Obama has been president for two months and I am already arguing someone is not racist because he employs a fair number of white people. Anyway, can we finally put the Minaya-only-signs-Latino-players argument to bed?

ESPN got the cameras set correctly for this game. When they aired a preseason game from here last week, they cameras weren't quite right. The outfield looked like Yosemite and the standard pitch-view camera was way too far zoomed out. I couldn't figure out of the ballpark was just bigger than everywhere else by 300-400 feet or if they just hadn't fine-tuned the production. Fortunately it was the former, though the Mets hit 3-4 balls to center field that looked gone by a mile that wound up being lazy fly balls to the front of the track. This park is good for baseball, good for pitchers, good for speedy slap hitters, but not good for casual fans who like homers.

Murphy officially got the first Bronx cheer in the new stadium. After dropping a can of corn Sunday that cost the Mets the game, he had another Monday that he put away easily. As the ball went up and the fans realized it was going to Murphy, you could hear them start to buzz louder and louder until he caught it and got a sarcastic standing ovation from some fans. Murphy had a big grin on his face as he tossed the ball back in. I like this guy. He hits, he learns his lessons (two hands this time) and he can laugh at himself.

I think I figured out why I am scared of Mel Kiper (besides that he looks like an angry bird). He has utterly no sense of humor despite that looking at him, you would have to assume he presents himself the way he does as a joke. He is terrifying. They now have this commercial for ESPN's NFL draft coverage where Mel and His Hair stand there looking dead-serious as they go over an imaginary draft board in front of them. It is like in Minority Report when Tom Cruise is moving around little video clips and files on a giant virtual computer screen/wall. Only Kiper is doing it with potential draftees' names and teams. But you get no sense he knows this is insane. You know he was standing on an empty sound stage and pretending to be doing things and they added in the graphics later, but he is so serious and intent. Does he really see those draft names when he is walking around in the real world? Is that commercial a visual representation of Mel Kiper's universe. I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but that man scares the hell out of me.

At the end of the 2008 season, on a Mets game broadcast, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez were talking about what it would be like to have Shea be gone. One question Hernandez asked was what would happen to all the cats that live in the stadium (like the famous black cat that cursed the 1969 Cubs during a game when it ran out onto the field, stopped in front of the Cubs dugout and stared them down). I remember Cohen saying not to worry about the cats and that they'd be fine. For those fans who were worried, fear not. They survived. One of them ran out onto the field and then disappear back into the stadium's bowels in the middle of the game. He was like a little blond cat-messenger. "It may be newer and shinier, but we still own this place."

I don't know what I expected from the Mets fans when Gary Sheffield would be introduced for the first time there. I did not expect a collective yawn. The cheer that went up from the 41,007 on hand when Shef pinch hit for Mike Pelfrey might as well have been for Alex Cora.

Trivia: first Mets' homer: David Wright. It is strange as a Mets fan to think that in a four inning bullpen-vs.-bullpen game, we've got 'em. In any of the last few years, I would have been thinking, "oh man, we need to score 4-5 more times to win this one."

Trivia: first player to also be an umpire and single-handedly win a game for a team, ruin the Opener of a new stadium, and ruin my life: David Eskstein. With a runner on third after Ryan Church pulled a Murphy and dropped a fly-ball for a three-base error, David Eckstein called a balk on Pedro Felciano, the home plate umpire deferred to Eckstein authority and confirmed the call. (Eventual game-winning) run scores. Does this ump ask for help on balls and strikes too? This is the circumstance I have ever seen a call be made under ("well, he's a veteran and he says he saw it, so I will call it") and one of the worst calls I have ever seen. I played this alleged balk over at least 10 times, even in slo-mo and there was no balk. Feliciano crouched over on the mound, came set, lifted his head maybe an inch or two, and Eckstein called the balk for faking a movement towards the plate and stopping. I know I am biased as hell here, but this call is absolute garbage and that ump should be ashamed at the way he called it because a player told him to. Feliciano's hips, shoulders, hands, arms, legs, nor feet moved. Just his head tilted up. I hope the league reviews it and the ump gets a fine or suspension given that it wound up deciding a game. If the Mets lose the division by one game, I am gonna lose it. Bruce Dreckman, we are no longer friends.

The Padres do not have a single left-handed pitcher. That has to cost them down the line once all the teams get a scouting report on all these no-name new guys they have in their pen. But for the time being, these guys are getting it done. I didn't understand why the Mets tossed Duaner Sanchez last month and watching him Monday made me still not see why. He's like mini-Frankie, goggles and everything.

Brian Schneiders' intro-music is by Creed. Ouch. Consider yourself knocked down a few pegs, Mr. Schneider. I can only hope he didn't choose this and someone way out of touch just threw it in there because they wanted "white-guy music" for him.

Heath Bell came out Monday and ripped ESPN for their East Coast bias, particularly their Mets-Red Sox-Yankees bias. I completely agree with him on that. They just made this big deal out of having a West Coast Sportscenter beginning at 10 P.M. Pacific time and besides the anchors being different, if you watched both shows, you'd never know the difference. The set is identical, the content is identical. How is this the West Coast Sportscenter? However, Bell also said that the Mets trading him away is one of his primary motivations. I am all for using something like that to fire you up, but the guy was traded three years ago. Move on.

Well there was no late-inning magic at the new park and the Mets now officially lost their Shea opener, Shea closer, and New Shea opener. And now I have to wait for two days before they play again to wash this mess out of my mind.

So Many Stories, So Little Time To Write

A week's worth of headlines rolled into one brilliant compilation:

Alex Rodriguez Is A Liar, And Not A Very Creative One!
So pretty much everyone has said that the "I didn't know what I was taking" line is a load of crap despite that every athlete caught doping seems to use it. But not only that, apparently the drug that Aroid claims to have taken without his own knowledge would not have tested positive for the two drugs that he tested positive for. And it is also not for sale in the Dominican Republic - he claimed his cousin bought it for him there. But at least his Valentine's Day-week fall-guy was his cousin and not his wife like Roger Clemens. Next excuse?

Mets Dominate Fantasy Drafts
The Mets have two players (Jose Reyes and David Wright) ranked 4th and 5th in Yahoo!'s fantasy pre-rankings and another two (Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran) ranked 17th and 19th. So with four of the most productive or valuable players in the game, and Daniel Murphy being everyone's late-round sleeper (I hope no one in my league is reading this), how have they not won a playoff game in three years?

Dodgers Fans Actually Listen To Tommy Lasorda
Last week before heading to Spring Training in Arizona, thus officially and finally driving a stake into the hearts of old-time Dodger fans everywhere, Tommy Lasorda actually said that he is not worried about the team signing Manny Ramirez and that they'd be fine without him. Apparently he did not watch the first 100 games last season. Staggeringly, 15% of Dodger fans are exactly as dumb as Lasorda takes them for and apparently agree with the fat bastard, based on a poll I posted on CBS2.com and KCAL9.com last week.

Tour Of California Races Down The Coast
Americans are dominating the nations largest cycling race, with Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie, Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner in 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. Thus far most riders have been content to stay in the peloton (aka pack) and just wind up with the same time as the leader, but Friday is the individual time trial where each rider takes off on the 15 mile sprint course on his own and races only the clock. There could potentially be a massive change in the standings, which have been basically unchanged since the first day of the Tour last weekend. Thus far, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton have been inconsequential in the overall standings, but neither has nearly the support that those other four Americans have, and Landis was a phenomenal time trialist before his fall from grace and hip replacement. The Tour comes to L.A. Saturday, and should pass my parents' house between 1-2 p.m. on its way to the Rose Bowl. How pissed are the French going to be if Americans get 2 or more podium places in the Tour de France?

David Beckham May Return To Save American Soccer After All
Beckham was going to make soccer relevant in American when he signed with the Galaxy two years ago. After one injury plagued season and one season with the worst record in the league, the sport had vaulted up into the top 10 sports in the U.S. trailing only football, baseball, basketball, car racing*, hockey, Guitar Hero, Mariokart, basket weaving* and soap carving*. Last week it looked like an Italian team and Beckham had arrogantly decided that his contract here was irrelevant and he should just leave. To their credit, the Galaxy told the Italian team to screw themselves and wouldn't let their star go. Supposedly the Italians are planning to sweeten the deal to get Beckham out, but for now he is still back to save soccer once more.

*-not a sport

The Clippers Are Bad, I Mean Really Bad
On paper, this is clearly a playoff team: Baron Davis, Zach Randolph, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Ricky Davis are a solid first seven and they have some decent backups well. Injuries and the fact that their jerseys say "Clippers" on them have cursed them however. How bad are they? Over their last 15 games, they have allowed 113 points per game. and only kept opponents under 100 seven times in the last two months. And Mike Dunleavy has two jobs and I don't.

Suns Didn't Trade Stoudamire But Lost Him Anyway
Amare Stoudamire, rumored to be traded to every team in the NBA, 11 NFL teams, 5 MLB teams, and bridge club, didn't get traded as the NBA trade deadline passed. In fact Rafer Alston was the biggest name to move. Now one day later, the Sun found out they have lost Stoudamire for 8 weeks due to a detached retina. As bad as I feel for the Suns and for Stoudamire himself of course, I cannot help but think about Kenny from Out of Sight and how he had to retire from boxing because he had his retina detached two times. Then I think of Kenny tussling with Toughy and Moselle telling Karen Cisco that if she sees Snoopy Miller to tell him that she needs grocery money and the dog got run over. I love that movie.

NFL Combine Starts
All of the NFL Mock-Drafts that have been published to this point are hereby rendered irrelevant, begging the question of why those writers ever put their names to those admittedly inaccurate rankings in the first place. So who will go #1? Not Andre Smith who decided not to come to the combine apparently because he has not been working out and didn't want to show off all of his new rolls (he's 330+ when in shape). He admitted that he hasn't worked out in three or four weeks and wants to get his "numbers down" before running his 6.8 40. Mark Sanchez improved his stock by signing up to do all the throwing drills, which most quarterbacks apparently don't do. Why do they have this combine if no one goes to it? Anyway, Sanchez's decision to go through all the drills shows he is willing to put out effort and be coached. The trouble is, the drills will likely show he is not a very good quarterback. Pick your poison - spoiled reputation but a top 10 pick, or nice guy reputation and a 2nd round pick.

NBA Dunk Contest Won On A Dunk You've Seen 100 Times
Nate Robinson won the NBA Dunk Contest by jumping over a guy and dunking. In other news, the set set in the west that evening. But I suppose it is better than Dwight Howard winning last year's dunk contest by successfully completing a layup, but not a dunk.

Aikman Award: Color Commentary Of The Week
"Every time UCLA gets up by 7, or 8, or 9, Washington makes a big basket to get it back to a one possession game."--UCLA Basketball announcer Don MacLean, who has to be checked every 3-4 minutes for a pulse. Apparently University of Washington players have figured out how to make a six-point basket, which could really catch on.

Offseason Shopping List

Baseball's Opening Day and the NFL Draft are both a little more than two months away so I was thinking about my shopping list before those big days. It's a short list.

1 - "Reyes moves over to third on the single by Wright as the Mets are off to a fast start here on Opening Day. And that will bring up new leftfielder Manny Ramirez."

Clearly the Dodgers don't want to really sign Manny because they keep low-balling him to a ridiculous degree. They want to be able to tell their fans that they tried, but it didn't work. Then they'll get third in the West, win 78 games, but sell 3,000,000 tickets and be one of three teams to turn a profit.

I don't understand why more teams aren't at least going to Manny with two and three year deals worth a little less per year than he's asking. At least that would be a middle ground. He wants four years and around $25 million a year. Not gonna happen. But couldn't the Mets land him for 3 years and $65 or so? Wouldn't he make up for his salary with jersey sales, wig/hat sales, and ticket sales? Wouldn't he love playing in New York and being on the back page, and sticking it to the Dodgers 8-10 times this year? The Mets are going to platoon an average youngster and a past-his prime veteran in left field. Really? Reyes, Wright, Manny, Beltran, Delgado. Name a better top 5.

Omar Minaya likes making big splash surprise moves. He allegedly likes only going after Latino players. Jerry Manuel said last month that he'd love to have Manny. The team has a hole in left field and a Gold Glove centerfielder to cover for some of Manny's gafs. And they have an offense that is potent (second in runs last year), but still somehow not intimidating. So go get one of the best two or three hitters in the game and stick him right in the middle of all of it.

2 - "Manning drops back, steps in front of the rush, picks up a block from Jacobs as he pumps underneath to Houshmandzadeh and heaves one deep to Boldin..."

Plaxico Burress is toast and no one else on the team (Amani Toomer included) can be a #1 receiver right now. Boldin wants out of Arizona and Housh is a free agent. Signing either one makes the Giants instant favorites in the NFC considering that arguably the conference's best defense played without its best player last season, and the one thing missing at the end was a serious threat at wideout. Signing both makes the Giants Super Bowl favorites. Who gets the double-team with Housh on one side, Boldin on the other, Steve Smith in the slot, Boss at tight end, and Brandon Jacobs behind Manning, who is behind the best offensive line in the league? These guys are both blue-collar star receivers (which is almost a contradiction in terms). They don't cause clubhouse problems. They don't make waves in the media. They don't even celebrate scores really. They block, they are good route runners and they stretch the field.

Is that really so much to ask?

I Still Hate Baseball, But Football Is Making Me Happy

It has been tough to bring myself to writing about sports lately because of my utter disgust at the way the baseball postseason has gone. Not only did the Mets not make it, but the Brewers embarrassed themselves in the Mets' place, and now I have either the Dodgers or Phillies to root for...both of which are among my five least favorite teams in the game. I could also root for the Rays of course, but they are in deep trouble even after winning game 2.

When the final pitch was thrown in Game 1 of the ALCS and the Red Sox had won it on the road in Tampa Bay, I said to a co-worker, "well there's your World Series champ." He told me that it was a little early to say that and the memory of him cursing the Dodgers' season months ago flushed back into my memory. I looked through my sports-notes that I write and found the game.

The Dodgers trailed 2-1 in the 7th inning and were 2-games behind the Diamondbacks at the time. There were 54 games left. I hadn't been watching and asked him the score and he said in all seriousness, "Who cares? They suck. It's all over." This is the voice of reason telling me I am jumping to conclusions about the Red Sox winning the World Series after winning Game 1 of the ALCS on the road.

It is funny watching the playoffs from a relatively neutral observer's position. When Steve Phillips described Brett Myers Game 2 game-winning, 2rbi single as a "Chris Evrett two-hand backhand down the line," I thought to myself how much I would hate him at that moment if I gave a damn about that game.

Sometimes I think that the TV stations are having contests to see who are the least knowledgeable, least well-spoken, most arrogant people they can put on the screen and still get ratings. It is like a social experiment to find out if the sports are really important enough for us to watch despite being angered at their incompetence the entire time. Seriously, how else can you account for Chip Caray, Stu Lantz, Shannon Sharpe and DeMarco Farr's careers?

On the lighter side, the Redskins and Cowboys both lost in painful and embarrassing ways this weekend, and the Eagles narrowly escaped another tough loss. And the Giants are now everyone's favorite team. This does scare me a bit because being the one that no one respected fit their team psyche well and this is a new mode all-together. But this Giants team doesn't seem like the type to have an ego-induced collapse. A huge win over the Browns tonight will make me happy. No one seems to be mentioning it, but the Giants are the team that pretty much destroyed the Browns' season earlier this year.

If you remember, the Browns were one of the up-and-comers last year and actually had more Pro Bowlers than the Giants did. Big things were expected from the great Derek Anderson, the warrior Kellen Winslow, and the talented trio of Brylon Edwards, Donte Stallworth and Jamal Lewis. They were going to score a lot of points and have a bruising, physical defense. Then they went to New York and the Giants surged out to a 30-3 lead early in the second quarter and knocked Anderson out before before pulling their starters. Then the city of Cleveland sunk meekly into Lake Eerie.

Of course, they could be out for revenge and could ruin the Giants 19-0 season tonight back in Cleveland. The Browns are coming off of a bye week and at 1-3, this is pretty much a must-win if they want to play in January at all. But for the Giants, they are two-up in the loss column and have almost already made the playoffs. But I don't see the upset happening. Anderson has thrown twice as many picks and touchdowns and his longest completion of the year was barely a first down. Winslow has just been released from the hospital after an undisclosed illness (that allegedly had to do with one of two reproductive organs and the term "grapefruit sized"). Jamal Lewis has one touchdown and is averaging a little over three yards-per-carry. All of which has culminated in the defense spending more time on the field than Chad Johnson has spent coming up with touchdown celebrations that he doesn't get to use.

Giants 27-Browns 13

Most Overrated: Cubs, Torre Or Francona?

The baseball playoffs are not exactly going as I had hoped. For one thing, Omar Minaya is ruining my life and the Mets are not in the playoffs. For another, the only teams I don't like keep winning.

Although there are two sides to the coin that was the Dodgers-Cubs series. On the one hand, the freaking Dodgers (who let's face it, are a crappy team having a good week) won the series and are in the NLCS. This makes me sad because it has been fun getting to tease obnoxious Dodger fans by saying, "At least the Mets have won a series in the last two decades." No more fun there. On the other hand, I can now pretty much expect to stop reading and hearing about the Mets "collapse" this year because of what the Cubs have done. Sure the Mets led the East by a few games and were out of the Wild Card race entering September. Sure the Phillies went nuts and passed the Mets, while the Mets ran down the Brewers before tiring at the end and getting passed up in the last two days. But the Cubs had the best record in the league and were a sure thing to make the World Series since Spring Training. Thank you Cubbies!

Joe Torre is getting a ton of credit for the Dodgers' late success, as he always got in New York, and while I like Torre a lot, I think it is pretty unfounded that he is considered such a managerial genius. His records on teams that did not have the highest payroll that year (including this year) is pretty poor. When he won in New York, he had the perfect teams: youth/experience/defense/pitching/chemistry all rolled together. As his payrolls grew, his players got more talented, his chemistry waned and his teams couldn't win it all.

So he came to L.A. and took over an extraordinarily average team. They were inconsequential for most of the season and reports started to leak out that he and third base coach Larry Bowa were not happy with the Dodgers because the team stunk. Apparently they were unaware that it was their job to do something about it. Then they got Manny Ramirez (and Casey Blake) dumped into their laps and the team suddenly surges, with Torre suddenly a genius again. The common denominator between their pathetic first half and their torrid September was Torre and the everyone but Manny basically. So why is Torre getting credit for the change?

I think managers get far too much credit when things go well. Really what do they do besides get out of the way of guys who get hot? Pitching coaches and hitting coaches deserve credit/blame more often than managers because they tinkering with people's games. They are instructing. How many managers actually do anything during the course of a game that is not by the book? Pitching changes, pinch-hitters, when to steal, etc. It is all predetermined and everyone in the building knows when they're coming. But managers can make unusual decisions which either make them lucky geniuses or get them fired.

In Game 3 of the Angels-Red Sox series Terry Francona made a very strange move. Francona is considered a great manager, but he has also benefited by spectacular pitching and Manny Ramirez/David Ortiz in their primes. A horse could have managed these teams. The score was tied in the eleventh, and Ortiz was on first base. The series-winning run was 270 feet from home in the form of a nearly 300-pound man. Clearly the right move was to pinch-run, then you can either steal second and score on a single (like how the Sox beat the Yanks in THE series), or bunt him over and score on a single, which was less likely since their had the heart of their line-up up, and for some strange reason, logical decision-making is thrown out the window when the guy hitting has a 1 in 15 chance of hitting a homer (and incidentally, a 3 in 4 chance of making an out). Even if you do not steal or bunt, a pinch-runner could go first-to-third on a base hit, and Ortiz could not.

But Francona didn't pinch run for the portly Ortiz. Maybe he didn't have a deep enough bench left. Then it was first and second with two outs...certainly you pinch run for him in this scenario! Screw the bench, the game ends with a speedy runner on second and any hit...what is the bench being saved for if not a game-winning hit!? But no pinch runner came on.

Then Mike Lowell walked and the bases were loaded with Ortiz at third with two outs. Not much need for a pinch-runner for Ortiz now. Even he could score from third on a ball into the outfield. So out comes a pinch-runner...for the guy on first!

I understand that Lowell is slow and has a bad hip so he's really slow, and having a speedy runner there makes it harder for the Angels to have an easy out at second on a ball in the infield. That is not a bad play. But can a fast guy at first really be expected to beat out a ball to the short-stop? And if he does, won't they just throw to first for an easy out anyway? And why was Ortiz running for himself all that time if you had a pinch-runner to waste all along?

With speed on first, the pitcher has to respect it and worry about it and throw over and be distracted. With Ortiz there, no problem. With speed on second, the pitcher is even more stressed because he knows any base hit means the series is over.

You can't say it actually cost the Sox the game because Ortiz did not get thrown out at the plate, or make a base-running blunder to end the inning. But it definitely changed the situation for the pitcher and made it easier for him to relax and focus on the guy at the plate. Terrible move by Francona and the Sox eventually lost in the next inning.

I Hate Baseball

Today is one of those days that I wish it was socially acceptable for a grown man to cry in public at the drop of a hat like those two guys in the double-stroller in the Taco Bell commercial.

While the word "collapse" seems to be the word-o-the-day for sports writers and talk radio folks when talking about the Mets, I hardly think that that is fair. After all, the Mets were 13-12 in September. By comparison, the Brewers (who are the heroic September-survivors) went 10-16. Yes, the Mets went .500 for the final month and that wasn't enough to get it done, but keep in mind that they were out of the Divisional race by 7.5 games two months ago and out of Wild Card by four games three weeks ago and roared back into both races, surviving until the last day.

That said, they should never have been in either race and should have been able to run away with the division in June, thus making September irrelevant and that is why Omar Minaya absolutely needs to be fired. Of course if you have been paying attention, you saw that he apparently was just given an extension.

Minaya takes flak from some fans for supposedly being too Latin-player-centric in his personnel moves. Personally, I think this is ridiculous. His flaw is that he is too over-the-hill-player-centric and expects big name moves to solve all of the small problems. Anyone can sign big names to huge-dollar contracts. A good general manager find diamonds in the rough, and Minaya doesn't. Many of the star players on the team had good years, in fact David Wright and Jose Reyes had arguably their best years, but there were so many glaring holes that they simply couldn't overcome them.

The team won 89 games despite some huge, obvious problems that were clearly evident in last year's team and not fixed in the offseason or at the trade-deadlines. There was no doubt that the bullpen was a problem last year, yet Minaya made no significant move to fix it. It is unfair to pin the whole season on the bullpen, but look at it statistically: this season there were 654 blown saves in 1837 save opportunities in the Majors - so saves are blown 36% of the time. Among playoff teams (including the Twins and White Sox since they are both still alive), they blew 195 out of 600 opportunities, 33%. Mets relievers blew 31 saves in 72 opportunities - an average of 43%! They blew one save almost every five games. Essentially, they lost one game that they had a lead in late per week. By comparison, the Phillies blew 16 of 66 chances, 24%. Had the Mets' bullpen completed this task at the League average, they would have won the East by three games. At their divisional rivals Phillies' average, they would have won the division by 12 games, won 103 games, and had the best record in Baseball.

But we all knew the bullpen stunk. This isn't news. So the Mets bullpen was far worse than the league average, let alone a playoff team's average. The offense was among the league's best, so that should have cancelled it out. Or were they? Of the players who usually started for the Mets (Ryan Church, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado), all had good seasons. They made up for 73% of the home runs hit and 63% of the RBI by Mets this season. They also made up about the same percentage of the team's payroll. By no means am I suggesting that any of these five should be dealt, but the point is that nearly any G.M. with this payroll could have found these types of players. The problem I have with Minaya is that the role-players all stink.

The team was decimated by injuries during the course of the season. Four starting left-fielders were injured for the remainder of the year in succession (Moises Alou, Angel Pagan, Trot Nixon and Fernando Tatis). Church was injured and missed nearly half of the year as well. But Minaya did hardly anything to replace these players and in the end, the Mets bench consisted of players like Endy Chavez (.267), Robinson Cancel (.245), Argenis Reyes (.218), and Marlon Anderson (.210). Most of the players who were injured for significant time (Alou, Orlando Hernandez, Damion Easley, Tatis, Nixon, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner and Anderson) are in the waning years of their careers and injuries like these could easily have been foreseen.

In the offseason, Minaya traded for Johan Santana to fix the starting rotation. This was a good fix for a huge concern for 2007, but anyone would have made the same move. Minaya also planned on using Martinez and Hernandez despite that it was clear neither would be any use in 2008. No players were brought in to fix the hemorrhaging bullpen and it proved disastrous. Ryan Church replaced Shawn Green and was only a moderate improvement (thanks largely to his injury) and Brian Schneider was brought in to replace Paul Loduca and was hardly an improvement. Midseason, the manager was fired and this proved to be a key move that catapulted the team into the playoff race that they'd eventually lose by a nose. However, they should have already won that race by that time and Minaya is to blame.

My only solace in this whole situation is these three things:
1) Dodger fans and the L.A. media seem to whole-heartedly believe that this is their year despite not apparently realizing that their "amazing, Manny Ramirez-fueled August/September run" is the seventh best record among the eight* playoff teams in that time. They are actually worse than the Brewers who overcame a massive collapse to survive, and the Mets who supposedly blew it down the stretch! Whoops.
2) While CC Sabathia's 2 wins, 26 K's and 1.88 ERA over the last two weeks ultimately doomed the Mets, they helped my fantasy team win the league.
3) My Giants won the Super Bowl, so for at least a decade more, I am good to go.


*Winning percentages in August and September: Red Sox .641, Rays .618, Cubs .615, Phillies .611, Angels .593, Brewers .569, Dodgers .556, White Sox/Twins .519; Mets .574

Being A Recovering Alcoholic And A Baseball Fan Couldn't Be Easy

On Wednesday, I wrote about how the Mets game from Tuesday night felt like one of those turning point games that might be the driving force that pushes the team. I don't think this team is winning a World Series unless the bullpen starts to channel John Franco (that is to say, loading the bases is fine...giving up a bases-clearing triple is not). But it did look like they would at least overcome the September 2007 demons and get back into the playoffs.

Then on Wednesday night they came out and blew a four run lead and left the winning run on third base after he hit a leadoff triple in the ninth. In fact, they had men on third with no outs in each of the last three innings. Ouch. And of course the Brewers won on a walk-off homer to tie up the Wild Card race. Ouch! To say the least, I did not want to acknowledge that any of this happened, let alone write about sports yesterday, so I took a day to regroup.

And the funny thing is that now that the Mets and Brewers have both played one more game, and each won theirs in spectacular fashion, it is painfully clear that all this magic and heroics really do have nothing to do with what happens the next day. Sure they make folks feel more confident, and confidence is crucial, but so it hitting and pitching and fielding.

The Brewers had a come-from-behind win and won it on a walk-off grand slam in the 10th. Their second walk-off homer in two games. You don't think they feel like a team of destiny? The Mets had their amazing win on Tuesday and then last night had Ryan Church score on the strangest play at the plate in history to complete a three-run comeback. As a rainstorm that had already causes a game in DC to be cancelled water-logged Shea Stadium, they played on into the 9th when Carlos Beltran hit a game-winning shot off the glove of the first baseman that stopped dead in the soaked grass that the right fielder couldn't get to before the winning run scored. They earned a split with the best team in the League. You think they aren't feeling good about themselves? Does Destiny have a favorite?

This is all kinda like how fans pray for their teams, or athletes pray for themselves before events - like God is only listening to one side of the argument. Granted, when it is Boston College playing Miami, God clearly has a side. And He apparently does not like Arod either so whatever team he is on, God's on the other team. (greatest player ever perhaps...not a sniff of a World Series title).

There is only one way that the idea of Destiny intervening can be upheld this season. And that is that the Mets and Brewers both make the playoffs, meaning the Mets have to make up a game on Philly in the last three days. After all, the Rays are the AL East winners, the Yankees are playing golf, and the Twins are about to complete a miracle comeback to win the Central despite having traded away Johan Santana among others in the off season. So amazing things happen. Of course, God doesn't watch American League baseball, so you can't blame it on Him.

The funny thing in all of this is that as a fan, I have no idea what to do with myself from day to day. Wednesday night I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and yesterday I couldn't even watch ESPN because I hated seeing the ticker show that the Wild Card was tied. Now the Mets pick up one more win, and even though they are still in the exact same position - tied - I feel like they are sure to get it done. I guess the easiest way to calm myself on this rollercoaster is to take solace in the fact that I am not a USC fan.

40-Year Old Curse Rears Its Head At Shea

In Tuesday's Mets-Cubs game, the Mets trailed 2-0 in the 5th. A loss here and they could have found themselves out of the race in the East and tied for the wild card. David Murphy had just been hit by a pitch and the Mets' pitcher, Johan Santana came up to bat. Santana first showed bunt but wound up swinging away. He hit a slow roller right back to the pitcher, but the bat broke and the head of the bat went bounding back up the middle with the ball.

Needless to say, the pitcher couldn't field the ball and jumped out of the way of the bat and left the grounder for the short stop to field (still in time for a double play). That's where it got weird.

During the course of a season, fans (and likely many players) see so many moments that as they happen, seem to be potential turning points. Some turn up, some down. We often see unusual, bizarre, or big hero/goat plays as the ones that mean something significant. Objectively, you could pretty easily say that very few of them really has the impact that we subjectively imbue them with. In fact, a skeptic would argue that there is no such thing as momentum or turning points or luck or curses. But if the players think there is, then who know what kind of effects they could have?

For instance, look at last year's New York Giants. At this point, the story of the season is pretty well documented but why is it that that team seemingly had so many important turning points on the way to an historic championship? Their defense had been run through like a tissue on a train track for the first two-and-a-half games until suddenly they held on first and goal from their own one-yard line against the Redskins and it all turned around. Then when they sat on the brink of missing the playoffs, a hurricane seemingly hit Buffalo and they pulled off an ugly win on the road in week 16. Then they went against convention and played their starters in a loss to the Pats in week 17. Then improbable play after improbable play happened, capped off by perhaps the most improbable play in NFL history...and suddenly they were the champs.

But why did Destiny choose them? Was it karma punishing Tiki Barber for retiring early and bad-mouthing his former team and quarterback (who would wind up winning the Super Bowl MVP)? Was it that the team didn't fall apart and bicker after that bad start, but rather banded together and played for each other and not for themselves? Was it Jeremy Shockey and Mathias Kiwanuka going down, Plaxico Burress playing hurt and Barber not being there that forced so many others to go above and beyond? Was it a final reward to end Michael Strahan's career? Was it favorable scheduling and good old fashioned dumb luck?

If after about week 10, you had asked fans of all 32 teams if their team might be the team with the magic - the team who had the right turning points, I imagine you would get a yes from no less than 20 of them. No doubt right now there are Dolphin fans envisioning a Super Bowl win this year after last week's demolition of the Pats.

It is the same way with baseball, only the season is so long that any rational fan (yes, I realize that that is a contradiction in terms) would admit that a play like what happened to Johan Santana last night would mean nothing if it happened in June. But on September 23?

In the last month, I have seen about 20 turning points for the Mets. On September 1st, they were red hot and had opened their largest division lead of the season. This would avenge the collapse of last September. Suddenly the wheels fell off the already shaky bullpen and no lead was safe. They lost two in-a-row including the first half of a double header in New York against the Phillies. Their lead was gone. Then they won the night cap and crushed Washington twice. They they lost a series to the lowly Braves and scored 3 runs in two games against those same Nationals that they'd scored 23 runs in two games against the week before. Then Jerry Manuel joked that Johan Santana would throw 170 pitches so we wouldn't have to see the bullpen and everyone was laughing and the team won three in-a-row and everything was ok again. Then they couldn't beat Atlanta again and the Cubs came to town with the best record in the league and beat the Mets in New York with a scrub starter. They were 2.5 out in the East, and just a game up on the re-awakening Brewers for the Wild Card.

Then Johan Santana's bat broke and fended off not one, but two Cubs from picking up the ball. The bat actually danced along with the ball like some bounding black cat, scaring away the pitcher and then actually hitting the ball again and forcing the short stop to abandon hope of getting an out. Was it the ghost of the black cat that ran out onto the same field against these same Cubs that marked the turning point for those Mets 39 years ago?

If there is to be one last fall of Miracles at Shea, that play will be where the magic started. The savior traded for who would erase the memory of last September stepped onto the mound to erase the memory of last weekend. And he hit the ball that miraculously didn't result in a double play. And then he was the one who crossed the plate after David Wright's two-run single to tie the game. And then you just knew he wasn't going to let anyone else score against him that night.

And on a play where Johan Santana got two hits, something truly improbable may have happened. Maybe not. If the Giants are any example, it seems that one amazing, miraculous, lucky, strange play is not really enough to make any difference in the long run. It takes a run of them strung together either by divine intervention or an overwhelming confluence of effort, ability and timing. Maybe last night's play will spark a big run, but then aren't Brewers fans saying the same thing about Prince Fielder's walk-off homer? As they say: Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher, so if Oliver Perez hits for the cycle tonight, maybe we will have a better indication of how things are going to go.